Hollywood2020

BLOGSHARES.COM VALUES HOLLYWOOD2020 BLOG @ $366.67 SHARE

BLOGSHARES.COM SETS VALUE OF HOLLYLWOOD2020 BLOG @ $366.67 -- FUTURE VALUE...SELLING THE FUTURE OF CYBERSPACE REAL ESTATE AND VIRTUAL BRANDS ....take a look --this blogger Joyce Schwarz, founder Hollywood2020 is excited to see that her blog is now at a value of $366.67 share (projected future value) at the fun site Blogshares.com (link)

Top 100 Incoming Links

This is a list of the most valuable incoming links at the time OTHER blogs are indexed. It is indicative of FUTURE value not CURRENT value.

1. Waxy.org Links (B$9,237.12)
2. ENCYCLOPEDIA HANASIANA (B$2,226.54)
3. collision detection (B$1,964.05)
4. The Zero Boss (B$1,547.22)
5. truck driver (B$1,212.45)
6. allura.net (B$1,167.98)
7. Ein Magazin im Entstehen (B$1,100.00)
8. i look good (B$901.50)
9. L.A. Observed (B$840.18)
10. leckBLOG (B$825.86)
11. Particles (B$810.54)
12. Interactive PR (B$693.25)
13. E-Business Weblog/Newsfeed (B$598.09)
14. My Blog Is Poop (B$580.54)
15. The Splintered Mind (B$563.84)
16. Tomithey's Blog (B$550.00)
17. COMPANICE (B$541.86)
18. http://www.blogebrity.com/blog/ (B$503.32)
19. Andrew Ferguson dot NET (B$396.90)
20. WebLab (B$384.07)
21. TooBIG.net (B$371.25)
22. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*YeLPar*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* (B$366.67)
23. Hollywood2020 (B$366.67) YES< THAT'S US!!!
24. KevinRemde's WebLog (B$366.67)
25. The Blipfish Wire (B$366.67)
26. Lightbulb (B$366.67)
27. J's Notes (B$354.52)
28. Blogads -- the ad engine for opinion makers

What is BlogShares?

BlogShares is a fantasy stock market where weblogs are the companies. Players invest fictional dollars on shares in blogs. Blogs are valued by their incoming links and add value to other blogs by linking to them. Prices can go up or down based on trading and the underlying value of the blog.

Got questions?Use the Help System Bored this weekend-- then try the Blogshares.com new contest -- here are the details...

Island Dave Forum Administrator Online Posts: 1643 BlogShares Administrator View Profile WWW

BlogShares Tutorials Wanted: Blogging Contest #5  « on: June 20, 2005, 11:47:34 pm » Blogging Contest #5:  Tutorials Think you've gotten down a great game strategy?  Would you like to help new players earn more money?  Ideas, shares, bonds, or voting, there's a player out there who wants to read your speciality.  This contest asks players to write tutorials on any game strategy.  Pick the subject, just make it as clear and carefully written as possible. Winning entries will be linked in a new node in the Help System, tenatively titled Player Tutorials. To enter, players must make an original post to their own blog.  Existing tutorials can be entered by their current owners, posts do not have to be made after this announcement, so long as the strategies and game math discussed in the post is still accurate (they may also be edited to make them more accurate).  Leave a link to the post in this thread, and be sure your user id # is included in the post.  There are no set number of winning entries, but because we want to link to the most accurate, useful, and thorough tutorials on each subject, only the very best will be selected.  Graphs, charts, screenshots, and well-linked and supported information will play heavily in a blogger's favor. The deadline of entry for this contest is July 31, 2005. I haven't settled on a prize pool yet, but if you've seen the prizes in all the other blogging contests, you've seen that they aren't too shabby.  There will be lots of incentive to finish well * All entrants grant BlogShares permission to link to his/her tutorial via a Help node (as well as the right to remove such a link).

SNAPPLE POPSICLE IS FLOPSICLE

Rival Popsicle Steals Snapple Spotlight

Snapple's ad agency's stunt snafu last weeks means lots of free headlines for rival Popsicle now part of the Good Humor Co. This blogger Joyce Schwarz draws on more than 15 years of experience in doing live promotions for major brands in cautioning clients that the 'promo' gods are always watching. Step on the competition --even lightly -- in developing your publicity stunt and you may get zapped back. What do I mean...well look at what happens when Snapple tries to promote their new "Ice Pops" with a giant ice sculpture in NYC.

click on thumnail to see what the Snapple ICE POP was going to look like at Union Square in NYC before it hit melt-down.

and then look at what really happens in 80 degree heat in NYC:

click on thumbnail to

see MSNBC's Snapple disaster on the stick

Don't trust my word for it...look at what the NY Times News service says about the Snapple Snafu.

Huge publicity stunt by Snapple turns into mushy flopsicleNY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , NEW YORK
Thursday, Jun 23, 2005,Page 7 Under the noontime sun of New York's first day of summer, Snapple, the soft drink maker, answered the question of whether a 15.87 tonne Popsicle can be made to stand upright in Union Square. It cannot.

In a brave attempt to surpass a Guinness record -- "The World's Largest Popsicle" -- Snapple mixed and froze a gargantuan icy doppelganger of its new kiwi-strawberry Snapple on Ice. Then the frozen treat was hauled by freezer truck from Edison, New Jersey, and raised with an enormous crane in Manhattan.

Alas, like James Arness in the 1951 alien thriller The Thing From Another World, the giant Snapsicle began to melt. Soon pedestrians were fleeing in not-quite terror, fire trucks were converging and the police were closing off streets to contain the publicity stunt gone wrong.....Turns out Snapple is running a special promo that imprints trivia 'facts' on the Snapple Ice Pop Sticks...guess what was on the Stick that snapped? According to the Snapple press release: The topper: the "World's Largest Ice Pop," just like the original, will sport a Snapple "Real Fact" on the stick. The "Real Fact" states that an 11-year-old boy created the first ice pop in 1905. What the Snapple fact leaves out that this boy's name was Epperson and called it the Epsicle and his kids renamed it the Popsicle...Cached so it wasn't an "ICE POP" 100 years ago Snapple, it was a POPSICLE...is it any wonder your competitor got headlines for your stunt?

TRUE STORY POPSICLE HISTORY courtesy of about.com

ABOUT.COM tells true story about invention of POPSICLE...Popsicle In 1905, the Popsicle was invented by an eleven-year-old Frank Epperson. Frank Epperson was only 11 years old when he invented the originally named Epsicle. He had left his fruit flavored soda outside on the porch with a stir stick in it. The drink froze to the stick and tasted good. It took 18 more years in 1923 for Epperson to apply for a patent for a "frozen ice on a stick" called the Epsicle ice pop, which his children re-named the Popsicle. In 1925, Frank Epperson sold his famous Popsicle to the Joe Lowe Company of New York. Good Humor now owns the rights to the Popsicle. - The History of the Popsicle

---

PIGS CAN GET SUNBURN:

SNAPPLE is also placing real facts under the lids of their Snapple bottles too-- look at this one I found -- maybe their promo people should have kept that in mind:

That's why I created this meme for Snapple stuntmen and women in the future to remember that the PROMO GODS are always watching...don't step on the competitor's brand in any way ...or else they'll get the headlines not yours...yep, even if the stunt fails...remember all publicity is good publicity....

click on thumbnail to see Snapple Popsicle is Flopsicle faux lid ...thanks to Snag-It Studio for making it easy to mock-up without even zapping to Photoshop.

Don't launch a microwave oven in a Tornado....

PROMOS  & STUNTS -- golden rule-- don't step on the competitor's history in any way...otherwise they might snap back. Believe me I know....after more than 100 promotions ranging from turning NYC into Hawaii and the internationally acclaimed "Missing Kids on the Milk Carton" campaign. Ask me some day about launching Microwave ovens in a Lightning storm...talking about a Tornado trouble.....for more info about blogger Joyce Schwarz promo background refer to her website link or email her at [email protected].

SIMULCRUM VS SIMULACRUM: What's Real, What's NOT?

Simulcrum or is it SImulacrum? or maybe Simulacrom? It's those zany words about the future that makes you wonder if you know how to spell? When Andrew Zolli's Zblog links to our blog Hollywood2020, blog founder Joyce Schwarz, emerging tech consultant takes notice especially when it's about one of our favorite post topics CHINA.

So when I saw the headline Simulcrum I thought I knew what it means but then I thought, well let's look it up...so what did I find? From the magazine of that name Simulacrum comes this answer:current page 

2. What's a simulcrum anyway?

If you have to ask, you can't afford it, so go away and leave me alone. If you can't spell it correctly, you'll never be able to find out from your Funk & Wagnall or your search engine, and then maybe you'll realize that you're way beyond your depth and go away and leave me alone.

A simulacrum is a perfect copy of something that no longer exists, and may in fact never have existed. A simulacrum could be considered to be a koan, one of those imponderables that Zen masters use to challenge their disciples and evaluate their triumph over the confines of worldly logic. The classic example of a koan is: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" By the way check out the magazine of that name Simulacrum at: current page.

PLAYING SEARCH ENGINE BINGO we find...The Simulacrum

The Simulacrum is a site devoted to the computer game, The Sims. Has floors, walls, objects, and more! or Baudrillard_Simulacra and Simulations iSimulacrum.com : Simulacrum on the web ORiSimulacrum.com : Simulacrum on the web Welcome to iSimulacrum.com! iSimulacrum.com is the online arm of the (nearly) quarterly journal of board wargame collecting & accumulating. ...ORHere are your heroic search results  scale model, movie magic, scale models, model making, special fx, collectables, model rockets, model kit, antiques, model kits,www.thesimulacrum.com/ - 42k - Cached OR Dictionary.com/Word of the Day: simulacrum Or what about a robot Simulacrum: :Hit and Run  P. Dick, Simulacrum. Someone has built a Philip K. Dick android. For the love of God, please don't tell it about the micro-punched tape in its chest. ...OR really into this (or really bored) check out Flickr: Photos from Simulacrum BACK TO THE MAGAZINE: OR back to that magazine from a great blog named: Weblogsky: Glossy Simulacrum Glossy Simulacrum. Business Week discovers bloggers, publishes a pretty good rundown .....had enuf yet on this word game or maybe you'd like to HEAR more...check out: Podcast.net - The Podcast Directory Simulacrum - mikhael gorbachev he likes sea shells on the sea shore. Podcast Date: Jun 1, ... Simulacrum - HRH Prince Harry Very regal, and barely legal. ...THINK WE've gone a bit nutty about this, well then don't miss this definition -- check out the title of this pub: Simulacrum - Enpsychlopedia or head over to: Definition of simulacrum - WordReference.com Dictionary for one final definition before you zap over to do something really fun at Flatline_Constructs 3.2 The Simulacrum's Revenge you can play games but we're heading over to check out this movie -- filmed at a Quickspot (we think that's like a 7/11 store) but don't worry we're not going to start the Search Engine Bingo with Quickspot YET....Simulacrum - Sonnyboo  minute, comedy, (2001). Synopsis - Two wannabe filmmakers go on a quest to find inspiration. Shot on location at the actual Quick Stop and ... Google image links for Simulacrum include: simulacrum_drum.jpg 640 x 480 pixels - 88k images.mediaglyphs.com/ tokyo/simulacrum_drum.jpg Have your own definition of Simulcrum or Simulacrum or even Simulcrom or Simulacrom you want to share with us...add your comment here or email it to me Joyce Schwarz at [email protected].

Picture from the ZBLOG regarding the Hollywood2020 entry with the headline Simulcrum (see above regarding Simulacrum for spelling and definition). Here's that post if you missed it on Zblog: There's a way to live in China without ever having to leave the United States. Then again, maybe it's really a way to live in the United States without actually having to live in the United States. The "American Industrial Park" near Beijing is now open and it offers the opportunity to live in an "American-style home, go to bowling league weekly, speak English 24/7 and eat and shop at American-style shops and restaurants."

HOLLYWOOD2020 MAKES NEWS AT THE ZBLOG,

HOLLYWOOD2020 CHINA POST MAKES NEWS AT THE PRESTIGIOUS ZBLOG

Andrew Zolli's Z + Partners Features Hollywood2020's China Post

Wow, blogging is fun. And when Joyce Schwarz's post on "America Town in China" and the rise of the American Industrial Park near Beijing gets mention in a prestigious blog like that of the Zblog its rewarding too. Zblog's 'one-liner' (note for newbies, all blogs need a great 1-liner that explains quickly what the blog is about and why read it), says: Pointers and commentary on emerging futures issues collected by Z + Partners.

Hollywood2020 blog founder Joyce Schwarz, emerging technology new company and product consultant met Z*Partners founder at the IMG Sponosorship conference. Schwarz and Zolli share lots in common since both of them wrote books for Pearson's TECH TV series. Joyce wrote the 400 page "CUTTING THE CORD: Guide to Going Wireless" and Zolli edited THE CATALOG OF TOMORROW.

Here's what the Google entry says about the Zlog Hollywood 2020 reference: Z + Partners - Weblog The Hollywood2020 blog reports the opening of American Industrial Park" near Beijing; the opportunity to live in an "American-style home, go to bowling ...www.zpluspartners.com/zblog/ - 76k - Cached - Similar pages

Miss the entry on Hollywood2020, here's the linkLITTLE AMERICA IN CHINA: AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL PARK RISES NEAR BEIJING . For more info on that post contact blogger Joyce Schwarz directly at [email protected].

REVEALED: LIST OF 1000 WORDS CHINA IS FILTERING ONLINE

Revealing:"THE LIST of 1041 Words" China Bans Online by Joyce Schwarz, Blog founder, Hollywood2020:

CNN, AP, WIRED and other mainstream news outlets are raging about new censorship online in China. USA TODAY tackles the subject in a strongly worded editorial that US firms help China censor fr**dom, d*mocr*cy. Their opinion piece maintains "What is a shock is that several huge U.S. companies are helping China muzzle free expression." and chastises not only Microsoft, but also Yahoo and Google for "helping a repressive regime censor such ideas". 

SHHHHHH, forbidden to write:

    So are you wondering what's on the list of 'forbidden words'? Well, I was, and it took almost 30 minutes of searching online to get some insight into how extensive the list of censored words may be. Finally at "China Digital Times" link I find an excellent article that not only lists the 1041 words but also gives a Translation of the Filtered Key Words in Chinese Cyberspace ... Author is Xaio Qiang, Director of the Berkeley China Internet Project at the Journalism Grad School, UC Berkeley.

The list of 1041 words in the China Digital Times article is reportedly gathered from three different sources including Chinese Internet company Tenent and a Chinese ICP (Internet Content Provider) not named and an unnamed Chinese ISP (Internet Service Provider). According to the author there are some variations (less than 2%) of the banned list, but the majority are the same. Qang the China Digital Times says it will be interesting to test this list on the Chinese version of MSN SPACE link . Note, since I can't read it and despite 8 weeks of private Mandarin tutoring speak only few words, I'm going to leave that test to my readers. Here is a screengrab of that site:

Click on thumnail to see MSN SPACE China home page. Go ahead and test words to see what terms are being banned online according to news reports by CNN, USA TODAY, AP, WIRED etc.

Analysis of Banned Word List:

According to the "China Daily Times" the list can be divided into 7 categories including: Rough analysis: Falungong related ~ 20%; Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan ~ 15%; names of Chinese leaders and their relatives ~ 15%; democracy, corruption, politics ~ 15%; social unrest, police ~ 10%; names of dissident writers, political exiles ~ 10%; porn related ~ 15% .  Check ou the complete list now in English courtesy of a student translation, Cached - Did you notice that the words "night club" are on the list --unless there is a sexual connotation there I'm not sure why that made the list?

Wikipedia: Falungong Info

Okay what's Falungong? According to Wikipedia.com which lists it as Falun Gong is a Chinese spiritual practice, with some beliefs outwardly similar to those found in Buddhism and Taoism, purporting to improve the mind, body, and spirit.

One Picture Worth 1000 Words, One Video Worth 1 million words? : The list of banned words at 1041 is just 41 words more than the famous saying, "One Picture worth 1000 Words" which is increasingly being upgraded to the phrase "one video worth 1 million words". So I did a quick google search for "China blogs" and quickly came up with this link videoconf_ from a blog by Chris Enway, a Rhode Island resident pursuing a PhD. Enway's blog ironically themed " my journal; not very interesting lately" So here's the screengrab of his videoconference with his pal Michael (I dug deeper and found Michael was an intern to Tom Brokaw at NBC on September 11, 2001)who appears to have had no problem going into a Beijing web-cam equipped cybercafe to videoconference with USA on February 3, 2005. Thanks to both Michael and Chris for helping me make my point that nothing can ban the next-generation of communication for 93 Billion people forever.

videoconf with michael in beijing (courtesy link to Chris Enway's blog)

my friend michael's in china, just having recently arrived in beijing en route to teaching english in crazy-desert western china (xinjiang). i've been keeping odd hours lately, and by chance caught him online in a webcam-equipped beijing cybercafe, producing this neat screenshot of videoconferencing with michael in beijing!

Thanks to both Michael and Chris for helping me make my point that nothing can ban the next-generation of communication anywhere forever.   

MAINSTREAM TV & RADIO SEEM TO BEAT WEB IN JACKSON NOT GUILTY VERDICT

Mainstream radio and TV seem to beat the web with their coverage of Michael Jackson's NOT GUILTY verdict.

photo from this blogger's TV Set with CNN real-time coverage.

Online searches on Google even after the CNN announcement of not guilty verdict did not turn up any real-time reports from news media showing the verdict at the same time. Most of the reports on Google seem to be 18 minutes behind on their coverage. First real-time coverage from a 'dot com' was MTV.com's update of their previous story saying Verdict is due in.

Michael and umbrella as he heads for limo after acquittal.

SANTA BARBARA D.A. COMMENTS:

Thomas Sneddon,Jr. District Attorney, Santa Barbara says, he won't argue with verdict. "We don't select the victims and the families they come from."....Claims of Klu Klux Klan and relatives on jury are untrue, Sneddon says. Asked if this is the end of your office pursuing Michael Jackson, Sneddon says, "No Comment".

Live radio on net but real-time headlines hard to find.

You could find live radio feeds on the ne,t but as a viewer/user I could not find real-time feeds-- no crawls. AOL's home-page did not stop flickering between other stories on GM etc. No live-crawl on AOL. CNN .com did link to live radio feed.  But no real-time photos. As noted, the first online coverage of the acquittal I saw was from MTV.com. 

Where is the site that lines up all TV screens? Personally, I'd like to see a website that shows the real-time screens of all channels or at least all major channels. That would mean that I don't have to click between ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC (who appeared to lose their satellite feed).  Plus of course, international channels.

Breaking news page Pointcast where are U?

And of course, I'd love to have a special page to go to for 'breaking news' online where i get multiple feeds from videobloggers on-site, podcasters on-site, internet radio reporters and fan comments. As of 3:15 PST I still have no fan comments from the television coverage. Fan comments could have come real-time from websites even via blogs? Where are the real-time bloggers? Once upon a time, a service called Pointcast was promising real-time feeds to my desktop of news, weather etc. Alas, it too is long gone.

Mainstream media -- not so 'lamestream' after all...lots of fun made of radio and Tv coverage by bloggers and blogeratti-- but when it comes down to the wire, mainstream media seems to win in my eyes and ears. Please update me with your findings, maybe I just didn't know where to search online?

Update: 8:10 p.m. PST -- Good comment below, please note that I did not just use Google for my search, I did go directly to CNN.com and to ABC.com and to other 'news' sites and also Technorati.com -- but you're right that the challenge seems to be in the 'real-time' search. Maybe once the video feeds and video search takes off this will be a different story? I'm very open to hearing how everyone else gets 'real-time' breaking news via the web or even via wireless-- I wonder if any of the SMS services were offering instant verdict text messaging? A quick check on Google at 8:10 p.m PST did show headlines in NEWS (which is where I checked before) logged by time of post on Google -- so perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean by Google only updates monthly. Google news updates much more frequently. Right now it seems to be carrying stories only 5 minutes old -- at the search time in the afternoon during the Jackson verdict everything listed appeared to be at least 20 minutes old -- too old for my taste. Here's what I found right now:
POSTS ON GOOGLE NEWS RE: JACKSON as recent as 5 minutes ago from this post.

Dance to freedom in fame's shoes New York Newsday, NY - 5 minutes ago ... Michael Jackson is hosting man-boy slumber parties at Neverland? Oh, that's just Michael! ... 2, speaking for the whole Jackson panel. ...

Jackson wins prosecutor showdown Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - 5 minutes ago MICHAEL Jackson's acquittal today marks a career-crushing defeat for his arch-nemesis, the prosecutor who has twice failed to put the star behind bars. ...

Fans celebrate after Jackson acquitted Bradenton Herald, FL - 5 minutes ago SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Jubilant fans of Michael Jackson erupted in chants of ... As Jackson left the courtroom, more than a dozen white balloons were released. ...

In case with more than 180 witnesses, accuser's mother stands out San Jose Mercury News, CA - 6 minutes ago SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The witnesses who were the heart of the case against Michael Jackson wound up serving as inadvertent stars for the defense, convincing ...

HUMAVATAR QUEST: NOW CASTING YOU IN NEXT-GEN MOVIES & GAMES

INTRODUCING HUMAVATARS: FUTURECAST SYSTEM PUTS YOU IN LEADING ROLES IN NEXT-GEN MOVIES

Humavatar: scan of human head on CGI body--combo of human and avatar= humavatar, jschwarz, 6/13/05

More than 10 years ago, I wrote about one of my dreams "to project an image of myself onto a movie screen in any scene of my choice starring Kevin Costner" (MULTIMEDIA: GATEWAY TO THE NEXT MILLENNIUM, edited by Robert Aston/Joyce Schwarz, Harcourt Brace/AP Professional, 1994Amazon.com: Books: Multimedia). Now I read about a new system "FUTURECAST" which allows visitors to the Mitsui-Toshiba Pavilion at Japan's Aichi Expo 2005Cached  to "star" in the exhibit's film "Grand Odyssey". Check out the creators of the film which include Visual Futurist Syd Mead (BLADE RUNNER etc) Here's a link to a previous story online about the technology at Technovelgy Cached . Note the comments about using the Futurecast technology for porn. So we move one step forward to me on-screen with Kevin Costner or say, after "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" I'll change that to Brad Pitt.

FUTURECAST PHOTOS: How to get to star in your favorite film

"Grand Odyssey" uses Futurecast tech to put you into the move.

 

Step by step how your face scan becomes a "Humavatar" with a CGI body.

Scenes from the Mitsui/Toshiba pavilion movie that features 'real people' at the Japan Aichi Expo 2005.

your digital face scan is inserted in faceless CGI bodies to create new Humavatars.

Casting Call: Gamers To Star in Games Terra NovaCached - talks about casting calls for human faces in games BioWare holding public casing calls for fans to be faces in the game, Cached  

QUEST FOR ANTONIA: Still a fan of real humans, then consider Cached the Everquest for a real-life Antonia, finalists are posted online now.

LITTLE AMERICA IN CHINA: AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL PARK RISES NEAR BEIJING

LIVE & WORK  U.S. STYLE IN CHINA AT NEW AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL PARK NEAR BEIJING: HOLMES STONER NAMED US REPRESENTATIVE

Most US cities feature areas called "Chinatown" but now the tables are turning and an America-town is evolving near Beijing.

Can you imagine being able to live in an Ameican-style home, go to bowling league weekly, speak English 24/7 and eat and shop at U.S. style shops and restaurants in a foreign land like China? 

Go bowling at American Industrial Park near Beijing.

Well, now Americans in China can live and work U.S.-style at the American Industrial Park at Machikou, Changping District, Beijing.

US style homes at American Industrial Park. You're not in Kansas anymore but you can live like it near Beijing.

Why is this important in a blog about the future of entertainment? Because China holds the purse-strings on international sales for Hollywood's future.

High tech facilities at American Industrial Park will help build the next-gen of entertainment & technology.

Plus, the demand for US television and video programming in China will prosper as more and more Americans begin visiting and working in China.

HOLMES STONER APPOINTED US REP AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL PARK:

My colleague and associate Holmes Stoner, Director, Pacific Rim Chamber of Commerce is just back from Beijing.

He is the appointed US representative for the new American Industrial Park. Holmes gave me the gorgeous all-color brochure for the American Industrial Park which featurs 128, 000 square meters of living space. 

21st Century Infrastructure & Telecommunications open China to business internationally.

Stoner says, "Major American firms are realizing the importance of establishing working offices in China; the American Industrial Park makes it more comfortable for U.S. citizens to work and live near Beijing.  The high-tech, modern facilities streamline the transition for Americans doing business in China."  To reach Stoner directly contact him via email at [email protected].

In-bound China Tourism 2004: Chinese inbound tourism breaking the 100 million mark

For the first time ever, inbound tourism in China reaches 109.4 million visitors in 2004. Not only is it a new record on the international scene, but this earned the foreign exchange revenue up to $25.74 billion, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China National Tourism Administration, CNTA. The inbound tourists mainly came from 16 countries: Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Thailand, Australia, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, India and France.

As for the number of Chinese leaving their country to visit the rest of the world, they accounted for 28.85 million in 2004. Some 5.87 million Chinese mainland people travelled abroad for business purpose, up 8.55% compared with last year. About 13 million mainlanders went abroad for private reasons, representing an increase of 55.15%. The CNTA also mentioned that tourism revenue represented $58 billion in constant progression.

DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA: YOU NEED INTERMEDIARY & CONTACTS:

Stoner's appointment reminds me of a story I saw in HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW(see excerpt below). Holmes explains that it is still challenging to deal with China not only because of culture shock and cultural clashes but because of the importance of connections and an intermediary like Stoner to help interpret not just the language but more importantly the style of doing business and of course in making introductions.  

click on thumnail to see intro to American Industrial Park colorful brochure.

When U.S. and Chinese businesspeople sit at the negotiating table, frustration is often the result. This Harvard Business Review excerpt summarizes the historical and cultural disconnects. by John L. Graham and N. Mark Lam

PREPARING TO DO BUSINESS IN CHINA:

In preparing for a business trip to China, most Westerners like to arm themselves with a handy, one-page list of etiquette how-tos. "Carry a boatload of business cards," tipsters say. "Bring your own interpreter." "Speak in short sentences." "Wear a conservative suit." Such advice can help get you in the door and even through the first series of business transactions. But it won’t sustain the kind of prolonged, year-in, year-out associations that Chinese and Western businesses can now achieve.....The root cause: a failure on the American side to understand the much broader context of Chinese culture and values, a problem that too often leaves Western negotiators both flummoxed and flailing. ...

IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTIONS AND THE INTERMEDIARY:

Guanxi (Personal Connections)
While Americans put a premium on networking, information, and institutions, the Chinese place a premium on individuals’ social capital within their group of friends, relatives, and close associates.

Zhongjian Ren (The Intermediary)
Business deals for Americans in China don't have a chance without the zhongjian ren, the intermediary. In the United States, we tend to trust others until or unless we’re given reason not to. In China, suspicion and distrust characterize all meetings with strangers For more details and the other 6 factors to helping close deals in China please see: "The Chinese Negotiation," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81, No. 10, October 2003. John L. Graham and N. Mark Lam

VIRTUAL TOUR AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL PARK:

Holmes Stoner,US representative for the American Industrial Park provides us with this 'virtual tour" inside the vast area for exhibition, working, free trade and living quarters:

PERFECT FIT: ANGELINA JOLIE'S LEVIS ON EBAY

WHAT A PERFECT FIT: ANGELINA JOLIE'S DESIGNER JEANS GARNER $1,525 FOR GIRLS INC. CHARITY

Finding the perfect fit between celebrity, brand and charity is an ongoing challenge in the ever-evolving world of branded entertainment. That's why I am so impressed with Levi's tie in with the enamoring Warner Brothers feature film "SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS" and an Ebay charity auction of celebrity-decorated jeans to raise funds for the non-profit girlsinc.org It's no surprise that the Levis decorated and signed by Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox scored a phenomenal fee of $1525. Although not in the 'Traveling Pants' film, Jolie is certainly in the spotlight as she co-stars as a sparring spouse and spy with Brad Pitt in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" unspooling this weekend. Here's the official list of the celebs who decorated jeans for the bidding:

PERFECT FIT:

In addition to the movie's star quartet, other celebs who decorated Levi's for "SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS AUCTION include:

Selma Blair Brandy Ann Brashares Charytin Cheetah Girls Courteney Cox-Arquette Kate del Castillo Katie Couric Vivica A. Fox Jennie Garth JoAnna Garcia Alana Grace Mary Hart Elisabeth Hasselbeck Jill Hennessy Lauryn Hill Angelina & Maddox Jolie Ashley Judd

Chantal Kreviazuk Queen Latifah Virginia Madsen Bevereley Mitchell Allison Munn Nancy O'Dell Leah Remini Annasophia Robb Raven Simone Jessica Simpson Brittany Snow Jamie-Lynn Spears Lara Spencer Charlize Theron Ashley Tisdale La La Vasquez Sofia Vergara Estella Warren

Here's the auction showing the top bid of $1,525 for the jeans decorated by Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox(note we with-held the name of the winner for privacy purposes:

7518525445

May-23-05

Jun-02-05 16:17:00 PDT

$1,525.00

Sisterhood Angelina Jolie Maddox Signed Designed Jeans Proceeds Benefit Girls Incorporated

Angelina Jolie & Maddox Jolie Designed Jeans Levi's® Low Flare 519's – Size 9 M Academy-Award winning superstar Angelina Jolie shares creative billing with her 3 year-old son Maddox on this unique project! Maddox’s artist flair is noted with red glitter paint down the right leg, with the charming innocence of a drawing in black on the right thigh. Multi-colored gemstones adorn the bottom of the right leg. Green glitter lines run down the front of the left leg with a couple gold glitter lines thrown in for contrast. One line is covered in assorted colored “gems” and sequins. The backside of the jeans have a delightful drawing in black on the left leg (looks like an animal of some kind), with a red glitter line coming out of the head. Is it a dragon, perhaps? Only Maddox knows for sure. The left cuff has a gold glitter border. On the right leg, an iridescent pouch with a silver draw string holds an autograph book.

Academy Award Winner Charlize Theron's decorated Levi's also brought in more than $1000 for the winning bid. 

THE MOVIE? Charmingly bitter-sweet with a fun quartet sharing more than a pair of pants during the a summer of awakening.  This benefit auction is over but there are many other promotions still going on for the film and you can find other props and costume momentoes from the film on Ebay of course. There's even a blue-jeans cover for your iPod. 

Personalized phone messages from the stars:

Make some pre-teen starry-eyed, send a message from the film's stars as part of a fun promo. You can send the message via phone or via streaming audio emails courtesy of the "Pants" official movie website Cached -.

YAHOO/SPRINT EMAIL DEAL HEATS UP US MOBILE MESSAGING MARKET

YAHOO/SPRINT EMAIL DEAL HEATS UP U.S. MOBILE MESSAGING MARKET: TRYING TO EAT RIM'S LUNCH

Why is it that I have to go to UK and international reports to find out what's really what in the US marketplace? This morning I turned to a story by Graeme Wearden. in ZDNET UK "Mobile email market hots up" to learn more about how Yahoo is following Microsoft in attempting to duplicate the success of the Blackberry. Here's an excerpt from that piece tht explains that Yahoo's new "Mail for Mobile Devices" service being offered by Sprint is provided in partnership with US developer Seven --nowhere on the Sprint/Yahoo press release did it say anything about Seven.   Why is that important-- because Seven has deals with Asian and European carriers and that brings this announcement into potential world-wide impact. Here is the report from ZDNET UK: "The storming success of Research In Motion's Blackberry appears to have tempted both Microsoft and Yahoo to compete with it in the mobile email space. Yahoo launched on Wednesday a product called Mail for Mobile Devices, in partnership with US mobile software developer Seven. This will automatically send new messages out to Yahoo email users who have a Sprint mobile device, and will also let them access old messages and their address book  Initially, the service will just be available in the US, but it appears that Yahoo has a global rollout in mind. In a statement accompanying the product launch....here's the link to the rest of that ZDNet story Mobile email market hots up. Comment on those out to eat RIM's Lunch: Asked for a comment on this deal by imediaconnection.com where I am a frequent contributor I gave them this quote for tomorrow's edition: "The mobile email race is heating up. Yahoo, the preferred provider for mobile email in the US is strengthening it's hold on the marketplace with it's new service to Sprint PCS customers. The pricing of flat rate at $2.99 a month for carrier-based push email is 1/10th of the price of RIM's Blackberry Connect. Suddenly a new ballpark of players are out to eat RIM's lunch. Couple the Yahoo/Sprint announcement with recent advisories from Microsoft licensing its Exchange push software to Nokia and Symbian and Cingular's announcement in late May that it will offer businesses always-on email access with GoodLink's server.and the mobile messaging arena is finally looking like it's entered the 21st Century," explains Joyce Schwarz, emerging technology and entertainment analyst and frequent contributor to imediaconnection.com.

For some reason I cannot delete this UK Orange ad from this post-- note they are not an advertiser but since I can't delete them, I'll include it as an editorial post so you can see what's happening in UK with mobile email.